Some later described physical symptoms such as burning skin, vomiting and a metallic taste in their mouths.

There were stories of dead pets with "burned eyes," a scarcity of birds and insects, and tree leaves that grew to twice the normal size.

Thousands filed lawsuits.

But not a single person's death has ever been connected to the accident. Nor have the many scientific studies declared a link between the accident and public health.

Thirty years after the TMI crisis, the major studies are over. Yet many people still doubt the true impact has been documented.

Or at least revealed to the public.

CHRIS KNIGHT, The Patriot-NewsA jet lands at Harrisburg International Airport, with Three Mile Island in the background.

No detectable health effects

One study, by the University of Pittsburgh, followed 31,135 people for 20 years.

It found a higher than expected number of deaths among people who lived near the plant at the time of the partial meltdown. But many of the deaths resulted from heart disease, not cancers associated with radiation exposure.

Another found a 43 percent increase in infant deaths in Dauphin County in 1980. But the deaths couldn't be linked to radiation and might have resulted from factors including stress and sedatives.

During the accident, the main radioactive threat resulted from gases released because of pressure in the overheated reactor.

Government agencies have said the average radiation exposure in surrounding communities was less than the amount contained in a chest X-ray. The highest dose anyone could have received was less than a year's worth of natural background radiation, they have said.

In 2002, the last major lawsuit involving people who claimed their health was damaged by the radiation release was dropped.

In 1979, Robert Reid had recently become the mayor of Middletown, which sits across the Susquehanna River from TMI. He is the borough's mayor today.

His son's middle school had closed. "I had to drag him around with me all day Friday," Reid recalled.

On Sunday -- near the end of the crisis -- his wife and son went to stay with a relative.

Submitted photoMiddletown Mayor Robert Reid, around the time of the 1979 nuclear accident at Three Mile Island.

Now 76, Reid said he has developed no health problems that might be attributed to the accident. Nor has his wife or his son. He lives in the same house, with its clear view of the TMI cooling towers.

Yet he's not convinced no one was harmed.

"If you just look at the number of people in the area who have died from different forms of cancer, it would make you think the accident had something to do with the increased cancer rates in the area," he said. "But then again, who knows?"

David Allard, the director of the state Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Radiation Protection, said, "There were no detectable health effects from TMI."

They collected rolls of film, which would have turned dark if exposed to radiation. They put 720 people in full-body scanners that measured radiation.

They found no high levels.

If enough radiation escaped to cause serious health problems, it surely would have shown up somewhere in the environment, Allard said.

Skepticism endures

Critics argue that the studies were based on radiation measurements that didn't capture the full amount.

The radiation escaped in plumes that rose above TMI and drifted away.

Because of factors such as wind and elevation, the critics contend, some areas received more radiation.

One critic is Steven Wing, an epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina. He has studied the accident and published scientific articles about it.

He believes people who were downwind of TMI have higher cancer rates and show signs of genetic damage associated with high doses of radiation.

Eric Epstein of the anti-nuclear group Three Mile Island Alert said, "I'm absolutely convinced that we have cancer clusters, that enough radiation escaped to damage human and animal life."

DAN GLEITER, The Patriot-News/2008Eric Epstein of Three Mile Island Alert, an anti-nuclear group.

Because cancer can take decades to appear, people in the affected areas should be followed for many more years in order to document all TMI-related cancers, he said.

Epstein and others also argue that, because of possible lawsuits and the importance of nuclear power, it was never in the best interests of the government or the industry to reveal the full extent of the damage.

'We'll never know'

Maxine Swider lost her son, Martin Matta, to pancreatic cancer. They lived in Colonial Park at the time of the accident, although they quickly fled the area.

Matta died in 1996 at age 23. After his diagnosis, a doctor asked if he had been exposed to a high dose of radiation.

For a long time, Swider blamed the accident. But in recent years, other events, including Patrick Swayze's pancreatic cancer, have made her realize the disease can strike the young.

"I blamed that, and now I see there may be other things. We'll never know," said Swider, 58.

Dr. Larry Espenshade lived within five miles of TMI during the accident, along with his wife and two sons.

Shortly before receiving the call to evacuate, his wife took the boys to a supermarket near TMI, where they spent time in a parking lot watching airplane traffic from Harrisburg International Airport.

Espenshade's family evacuated. He stayed and went to TMI to perform physicals on plant workers the next day.

During a break, he walked outside and soon noticed a metallic taste. Watching the news later, he learned of the radioactive releases and believed he might have received a heavy dose.

Outside his home, he also noticed the metallic taste. He noticed it for weeks. Patients at his Highspire practice had unusual rashes.

Over the years, he closely watched his children and patients. But he has seen nothing he would attribute to radiation exposure.

"To his day, I cannot say I have seen increased patterns of cancers or anything else," said Espenshade, 62.

In Royalton, the lower section of Wyoming Street offers a clear view of the TMI cooling towers.

On a sunny day last week, Doris Kreiser, 59, unloaded groceries. Asked about the health impact of the accident, she pointed to houses in all directions and rattled off names of neighbors who had cancer.

The cancer victims include her husband, Kelly, 67, who is beginning treatment for a recurrence of cancer that appeared two years ago.

"A lot of people got cancer," he said.

A block away, Steph Watson, 27, worked in her yard, along with her husband and toddler. Watson, who wasn't born at the time of the accident, grew up in the area.

She said she trusts TMI and feels safe.

"I don't know anyone who was affected by it," she said. "That doesn't mean there wasn't."